Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD)

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Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) is a surface-sensitive diffraction technique that plays a crucial role in measuring and displaying the crystalline orientation and phase of a material. This method is essential for understanding the microstructure and texture of materials throughout various processing stages. EBSD grain orientation mapping is recognized as the industry standard for analyzing 3D printed metal parts.

To create an EBSD grain orientation map, hundreds of thousands to millions of Kikuchi diffraction patterns are collected. Each crystalline orientation is assigned a unique color, and the data is then visualized to produce a colored map that distinctly shows crystalline orientation and the individual grains. Advanced tools like the Hikari Super Camera enhance this process, especially when paired with techniques such as Large Area Montaging and Phase Mapping, allowing for comprehensive analysis and insights into material properties.

Our EBSD detector, the Hikari Super Camera manufactured by EDAX, excels in Electron Backscattered Diffraction applications. This high sensitivity detector can collect over 1,000 EBSD patterns per second, making it ideal for EBSD grain orientation mapping. Additionally, our software features advanced Large Area Montaging capabilities, allowing us to stitch together hundreds of individual maps into a single, comprehensive field of view EBSD map. Montaging is essential, as most parts analyzed are larger than what can be scanned in a single field of view. The example on the right illustrates a large area montage created from 30 individual fields of view, seamlessly integrated into a single dataset for effective phase mapping.

Because Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) is directly measuring the crystal structure of the material, this technique can also provide phase mapping, displaying phase maps and detailed information on average grain size and area fraction of each phase. The image to the right showcases an EBSD phase map of a duplex stainless steel. In this instance, the blue phase represents ferrite, which has a body-centered cubic (BCC) crystalline structure, while the red phase denotes austenite with a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure. Additionally, with advancements like the Hikari Super Camera and Large Area Montaging, EBSD grain orientation mapping has become even more precise.